What Military Women Want
by MoonStarDutchess
Summary: After being poked fun at by the men in the office, Riza proves just how womanly she is and Roy finds out just what she wants. Birthday fic for Izumi's Apprentice.


**What Military Women Want **

**Author: MoonStarDutchess**

**Beta: FMA Freak **

**Oneshot**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FMA. **

**AN: B-Day fic for Izumi's Apprentice. Her B-Day is February 19th so go wish her a Happy B-Day by going to review her stories please. : )**

**Note: This fic came about when I was having a convo with a friend of mine. She said that she believes that sometimes the men forget Riza is a girl. It is clear she has her feminine side and wants someone to care about her but she keeps it locked away due to her profession. That is the basis of this quick, what I call, plot dump(1).**

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**What Military Women Want  
**

Riza stared into the mirror hanging on her bedroom door. Her green ball gown clinging to her waist then flaring out and down to barely touch the ground. Her gloves extended up to her elbows and a diamond bracelet graced her right wrist. Her hair was piled on her head with tiny barrettes pinning it.

Normally, she went to these functions in uniform but with the words that she overheard the men of the office say to Maria she was going to blow them away.

Havoc asked Maria what she would be wearing and when Maria said she was wearing a ball gown Roy had cracked that Riza wouldn't ever wear a gown. That comment was followed by Havoc saying that she would probably fall in her face in heels and commenting on how she was such a tomboy.

Riza had to admit that the comments hurt, but they also made her angry. Maria had told her about them as well. She, Maria, and Rebecca, who was also furious at the comments, went shopping. Riza was going to prove she was a lady just like all the others, even if she was also a soldier. She even got a date. Her friend Rob, who was the man over the shooting range, offered her the escort and she'd gladly accepted.

This night was about showing off, and by damn she was going to. She studied herself in the mirror once more. "What do you think Hayate?" Riza asked.

The dog barked in approval just as there was a knock on the door. She smiled, grabbed her black silk wrap and went to the door. She opened it and was met with a smiling Rob. He was a good deal older than her but that didn't make him less handsome in that rugged sort of way. There was nothing romantic about this outing but she couldn't help but notice the way that the dress uniform fit him.

"You look beautiful, Riza. You are going to knock Roy off his chair," he said. She smiled. He and Rebecca were the only person that knew of the love that she carried for her commanding officer.

"Hope so," she remarked with a frown. She stepped out of her apartment, locked the door, and they made their way to the dining hall where the ball was being held.

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"Where's Riza?" Roy questioned, looking around the ball room for her. He was looking for that familiar uniform that she wore. It didn't matter that she wore the uniform, she still looked more beautiful than any woman in that room all dolled up in those gowns. Still, he would love to see her in a ball gown but it would never happen. It just wasn't her and he was all right with that. He didn't love Riza for what she wore; he loved her for her heart, that smile and comfort she offered him by merely standing by him.

"Holy shit," he heard Havoc swear. He looked up at his subordinate.

"What is it Havoc?" he asked then noticed that not only Havoc but all of his subordinates were looking toward the door with eyes wide with shock. He noticed Maria smiling smugly.

Roy turned his head to the door and his heart leaped into his throat. Riza was standing there in a dress with her hair done up beautifully. A black wrap was over her shoulders but soon discarded as the waiter took it to go hang it up.

Roy's mouth went dry as his eyes took her in. No wonder Maria was smiling smugly. She'd been angry at the men's comments and now this was showing the just how feminine and beautiful Riza could be.

Jealousy flowed through him as she took Rob's arm and went past them over to a table with her friends Rebecca and Daniel. He knew Rob was only a friend, but that didn't matter to him. He wanted her by his side the ways he was supposed to be. He stood and walked over to her.

"Would you like to dance Lieutenant?" he asked. Riza looked surprised. He usually asked for the last dance, not the first. She looked at Rob who smiled and nodded; he whispered. "Knock 'em dead."

Roy held out his hand to her and she placed her hand on it. Leading her out on the dance floor, he placed his hand a little lower on her waist that what she would allow other men. He wanted to rub it in to all the other men that he had special privileges over them.

They began the fast waltz, dancing as if they practiced all the time. Their moves coordinated perfectly just as they did at work or when they were fighting in those life or death situations they had sadly grown used to.

"You look very beautiful tonight. I never expected you to come looking the way you do," Roy said, gazing at her as they danced.

"Yes, I know that. What was it you said? 'Riza would never wear a gown', wasn't it? Looks like you don't know me as well as you thought you did. Right sir?" she said, the anger coming in her voice.

"Why are you angry when I complimented you!" he snapped. She just looked away from him. He didn't understand that the comment he'd made in the office hurt her feelings. The song ended, she curtsied and went back to her table, leaving Roy standing there. He walked back over his table and sat down. He watched as Rob took Riza out on the dance floor.

"What did you do sir?" Maria questioned.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I saw the look on her face. You said something."

"I just complimented her and she got angry," he said.

"What did you say?" Gracia, who had come escorted by Havoc, questioned.

"I told her she looked very beautiful then I said that I never expected her to come looking the way she did tonight."

Gracia and Maria groaned causing a confused looked

"That's the worst thing you could have said sir," Maria said.

"What's wrong with it?" Denny asked.

"Yea, the chief paid her a compliment?"

"It sounded like you were saying she wasn't pretty any other time," Maria said.

"How can she possibly come up with that?"

"In the office you said, Riza would never come in a gown correct?"

"Yes," he said. "She usually comes in uniform."

"You said she was beautiful tonight and that you never expected her to look the way she did." Maria said, repeating what he said.

"Yes, so?"

"Roy, it was like you were saying you were never expecting her to be beautiful. That she was only beautiful tonight and not any other time."

"But I didn't mean it like that!" Roy said, alarmed at what Maria said. "I never expected Riza to think that way."

"She's a woman sir," Maria said, "Despite what you men think of her as being, she is an elegant woman that wouldn't mind being treated as such every once in a while. Sure on the job she is tough but we women have to be to be taken seriously. That doesn't mean that we are tomboys or that we don't like the doors open for us or wearing dresses."

"I know that, I never said that."

"Havoc did," Maria said, glaring at him.

"I honestly thought Riza was a tomboy. She never struck me as the gown and heels type."

"Riza . . . she's beautiful to me all the time," Roy said, not just tonight.

"Then you should tell her that," Gracia said.

Roy nodded and stood, as she and Rob were leaving the floor, he walked to her and took her hand. She glared but didn't say anything. "I need to tell you something."

"I think you said all you needed to," she said.

"Don't make me order it, Lieutenant," he stated. He didn't want to pull rank on her but it seemed to be the only option to get her to speak with him.

"Yes sir," she said. Rob nodded and walked back over to the table. Roy took her hand and intertwined her hand with his as they stepped outside and down the stairs into the hotel's green house. She pulled her arm away and sat down on a stone bench and didn't say a word to prompt him to speak. She knew from experience that he was gathering his thoughts. He soon sat beside her and took her hand.

He gazed into her beautiful face and he lost his words on the tip of his tongue. This had never happened to him before. Usually he had a smooth line for any woman that came his way, and then he realized that he wasn't dealing with just any woman.

"I . . . damn. I am at a loss for words."

"You?" she said in genuine surprise.

Roy only stared at her, making her feel uncomfortable. Finally she stood and sighed. "If you have nothing to say, sir, then I request permission to rejoin the party . . ." He stood and pulled her into his arms.

"You're beautiful," he said then felt Riza sigh.

"Yes, you made it clear that I am beautiful tonight and you never expected me to lo. . ."

"I mean all the time," he said.

She pulled away slightly to look into his face. "Pardon?"

"It's not just tonight. I will say I was surprised you chose to wear a gown but I always think you are beautiful no matter what you wear." Riza tried her best not to blush. She wasn't used to this kind of flattery from men, especially Roy. "You could wear a potato sack and still look stunning. I'm sorry you misinterpreted what I meant. And poor Havoc actually thought you were a tomboy. He didn't really mean it as an insult."

"I. . .I'm a woman Roy," she said.

"Believe me, I am more than aware of that fact," he said.

"We women have to work three times as hard as you men do, to get any respect in the military."

"That's what Maria said," he said.

"That means out of uniform we want to be treated like women. We want to mean something to a man. We want. . ." she hesitated.

"Go on," he said, lifting a hand to her stroke her face tenderly.

She decided to forgo what she was going to say and she just said, "We want the same things that all women want. We want to be treasured and love and held."

"And you want that?"

"I told you that I. . ."

"Do you have anyone in mind to help you get those things?" he asked. Riza blushed and he smiled. He lowered his lips gently to her forehead and then brought them down to kiss her softly. Her arms wound around his neck as she kissed him back. It was slow and sensual, causing Riza to go weak in the knees. He pulled away and stared at her.

"I want to do those things," he said.

"I was hoping you would," she said and kissed him again. When he pulled away he looked her up and down.

"I must say though. That dress is something. Where are you carrying your guns?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she asked with a smile.

"Yes, I am a man after all," he replied.

She laughed and walked away from him. She stopped, looked over her shoulder and grinned like he'd never seen her do. "If you are a good man tonight I might let you find out," she said.

"That's not lady-like behavior Lieutenant?"

"I said I was a woman sir, not a lady. I guess it's just the soldier in me," she replied and walked up the stairs of the hotel to where the part was being held.

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**AN: Not great but fun to write. Hope you had fun reading it. Please review. **

**(1) Plot Dump: A fic that was written to get the plot idea out of ones head. **

**Origination: From the deep recesses of MSD's Mind. **


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